Hunterstown

July 2, 1863

While major fighting was taking place just four miles southwest at Gettysburg, two Union brigades under Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick attempted to probe the left flank and rear of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia by using the road that connected Hunterstown to Gettysburg. A Confederate cavalry brigade under Brigadier General Wade Hampton arrived on the road near the village at 1 p.m. and obstructed the Union advance. The skirmish lasted until after dark, when the Union cavalry withdrew southeast.

The next morning, these blue-clad horsemen reunited with the Army of the Potomac. One of the Union brigades—Brigadier General George Custer’s Michigan Brigade—would fight against Hampton’s cavalry at “East Cavalry Field,” the clash of horsemen that occurred three miles east of the Battle of Gettysburg on the battle’s final day.